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smb04's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
4.5
tmleblanc's review
The first 75 percent was decent. I enjoyed the history, literary criticism, and garden rehab. And suddenly, I couldn’t follow the history and the people that were referenced and I just gave up.
donnabrenton88's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
I enjoyed the journey through time, gardens and thought. This book challenged my thoughts and ideas surrounding gardens. Well worth the read!
julianiem19's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
miss_blackbird's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
Pinpricks, glimpses, half-worded thoughts.
brice_mo's review
2.75
Thanks to NetGalley and W.W. Norton for the ARC!
Olivia Laing’s The Garden Against Time is a carefully manicured reflection on the garden as a social symbol and site of class demarcation, but it occasionally gets a little too lost in the weeds.
If you’ve read the marketing copy for this book, you already know that Laing began an 18th-century garden restoration project during the pandemic. It’s a starting point that seems like it should be fruitful; however, like many projects born during COVID, The Garden Against Time struggles with the tension between interiority and insularity, unfortunately skewing toward the latter. Laing’s usual preoccupations just don’t seem to fit within their framing device here, as the isolated origin of the work makes many of the author’s sociological observations feel more voyeuristic than astute.
The Garden Against Time seems to celebrate the garden as a site of escapism while also suggesting it’s an impossibility. Laing offers lush descriptions, treating readers to sensorial delights—I could almost smell the soil and taste the pollen hanging in the air—before interrupting them with discussions of history and politics. Sometimes, they work to shed light on the history of land access and ownership—I also loved all the material about Derek Jarman—but often they read like unexpected digressions. While this approach feels masterful and holistic in a book like Everybody, here it feels less focused—like someone sharing every fact that comes to mind after a wikipedia deep dive. Or, to use some garden imagery, it feels like an invasive species.
Perhaps these complaints are a matter of faulty expectations, but the book feels like it was written as a way to pass the endless, shapeless hours of the early 2020s. It never blooms beyond feeling like a COVID curio—cumbersomely divided, with its political distance in tension with its earthy intimacy. In the end, it’s disappointing because it feels like there are two great versions of The Garden Against Time if Laing picked a focus and an editor trimmed 50-100 pages. Even so, there’s still much to appreciate here, and I recommend the book to readers who understand what they are signing up for.
Olivia Laing’s The Garden Against Time is a carefully manicured reflection on the garden as a social symbol and site of class demarcation, but it occasionally gets a little too lost in the weeds.
If you’ve read the marketing copy for this book, you already know that Laing began an 18th-century garden restoration project during the pandemic. It’s a starting point that seems like it should be fruitful; however, like many projects born during COVID, The Garden Against Time struggles with the tension between interiority and insularity, unfortunately skewing toward the latter. Laing’s usual preoccupations just don’t seem to fit within their framing device here, as the isolated origin of the work makes many of the author’s sociological observations feel more voyeuristic than astute.
The Garden Against Time seems to celebrate the garden as a site of escapism while also suggesting it’s an impossibility. Laing offers lush descriptions, treating readers to sensorial delights—I could almost smell the soil and taste the pollen hanging in the air—before interrupting them with discussions of history and politics. Sometimes, they work to shed light on the history of land access and ownership—I also loved all the material about Derek Jarman—but often they read like unexpected digressions. While this approach feels masterful and holistic in a book like Everybody, here it feels less focused—like someone sharing every fact that comes to mind after a wikipedia deep dive. Or, to use some garden imagery, it feels like an invasive species.
Perhaps these complaints are a matter of faulty expectations, but the book feels like it was written as a way to pass the endless, shapeless hours of the early 2020s. It never blooms beyond feeling like a COVID curio—cumbersomely divided, with its political distance in tension with its earthy intimacy. In the end, it’s disappointing because it feels like there are two great versions of The Garden Against Time if Laing picked a focus and an editor trimmed 50-100 pages. Even so, there’s still much to appreciate here, and I recommend the book to readers who understand what they are signing up for.
bisexualbookshelf's review
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!
In "The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise," Olivia Laing delves into the lush terrain of gardens with a keen eye for the political, the personal, and the profound. Through a masterful exploration of paradise, queerness, and famous English gardens, Laing invites readers on a journey that transcends mere horticulture, delving deep into community care and our relationships with land.
Laing's narrative is a rich tapestry, woven with threads of history, literature, and social critique. With an unwavering gaze, they dismantle our preconceived notions of gardens as mere patches of greenery, revealing them instead as battlegrounds of power and resistance. Through Laing's lens, gardens emerge as sites of both cultural memory and radical possibility, challenging us to rethink our relationship with nature and each other.
What sets "The Garden Against Time" apart is its unflinching commitment to liberation. Laing refuses to sanitize the unruliness of nature, instead celebrating its wild, untamed beauty. In their exploration of Edenic myths and Milton's "Paradise Lost," they offer a searing critique of capitalism and colonialism, exposing how these systems have shaped our understanding and expectations of paradise.
“The Garden Against Time” moves beyond mere critique to echo calls for solidarity and collective liberation. Through Laing's story of restoring their own garden, we are reminded of the transformative power of tending to the land and tending to ourselves. They skillfully navigate the intersections of class, race, and gender, illuminating how gardens often reflect the power dynamics of the societies that tend them.
In conclusion, "The Garden Against Time" is a tour de force that transcends genre and expectation. With luscious prose and incisive analysis, Olivia Laing invites us to reimagine our relationship with the natural world and each other. This book is not just a garden; it is a sanctuary, a refuge, and a call to arms. As Laing instructs, “Take it outside and shake the seed.”
📖 Recommended For: Advocates for Environmental Justice, Intersectional Activists, Readers Challenging Colonial Narratives, Seekers of Personal Narratives with Political Impact, Fans of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass.
🔑 Key Themes: Environmental Justice and Political Liberation, Deconstructing Colonialist Ideals of Paradise, Interconnectedness of Nature and Power Dynamics, Resilience and Healing Through Gardening.
In "The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise," Olivia Laing delves into the lush terrain of gardens with a keen eye for the political, the personal, and the profound. Through a masterful exploration of paradise, queerness, and famous English gardens, Laing invites readers on a journey that transcends mere horticulture, delving deep into community care and our relationships with land.
Laing's narrative is a rich tapestry, woven with threads of history, literature, and social critique. With an unwavering gaze, they dismantle our preconceived notions of gardens as mere patches of greenery, revealing them instead as battlegrounds of power and resistance. Through Laing's lens, gardens emerge as sites of both cultural memory and radical possibility, challenging us to rethink our relationship with nature and each other.
What sets "The Garden Against Time" apart is its unflinching commitment to liberation. Laing refuses to sanitize the unruliness of nature, instead celebrating its wild, untamed beauty. In their exploration of Edenic myths and Milton's "Paradise Lost," they offer a searing critique of capitalism and colonialism, exposing how these systems have shaped our understanding and expectations of paradise.
“The Garden Against Time” moves beyond mere critique to echo calls for solidarity and collective liberation. Through Laing's story of restoring their own garden, we are reminded of the transformative power of tending to the land and tending to ourselves. They skillfully navigate the intersections of class, race, and gender, illuminating how gardens often reflect the power dynamics of the societies that tend them.
In conclusion, "The Garden Against Time" is a tour de force that transcends genre and expectation. With luscious prose and incisive analysis, Olivia Laing invites us to reimagine our relationship with the natural world and each other. This book is not just a garden; it is a sanctuary, a refuge, and a call to arms. As Laing instructs, “Take it outside and shake the seed.”
📖 Recommended For: Advocates for Environmental Justice, Intersectional Activists, Readers Challenging Colonial Narratives, Seekers of Personal Narratives with Political Impact, Fans of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass.
🔑 Key Themes: Environmental Justice and Political Liberation, Deconstructing Colonialist Ideals of Paradise, Interconnectedness of Nature and Power Dynamics, Resilience and Healing Through Gardening.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Forced institutionalization and Cancer